My antivirus scan has found something on Windows 7. No information yet what it is. However I was thinking of installing Ubuntu alongside Windows. Could that be dangerous in terms of Ubuntu catching anything malicious on the Windows system?
4 Answers
The safest option would be to install Ubuntu on a different partition, but according to this post it seems safe. Here I quote it:
Wubi will not be affected by Windows viruses. Wubi is almost identical to the standard Ubuntu installation, except for the fact that everything is inside a file on the Windows partition. Therefore it cannot run windows executables (including viruses). The only way you can get a virus from Wubi is if you download something containing a virus, transfer the file to Windows, boot Windows, and then run the virus from Windows.
Also see this thread
EDIT Also if you want to run any programs in wine from your infected Windows installation, especially as root, you may open your system to infection. Also, the safest option is to format everything and then install Ubuntu - ObsessiveFOSS
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Also add that if the OP wants to run any programs in
wine
from their infected Windows installation, especially as root, they may open their system to infection. Also, the safest option is to format everything and then install Ubuntu. Jul 9, 2012 at 11:39
Knowing of malware that are malicious beyond imagination I would just be too afraid to let anything even remotely touch my Ubuntu. Therefore a Wubi installation can not be recommended.
As already said Windows malware will not infect your Ubuntu OS or replicate through Ubuntu but there are a lot of trojans that are capable of changing or even encrypting files on your harddisk. If this file was your Ubuntu Wubi container then you will not only have lost Ubuntu but also you will have lost the opportunity to rescue data from the infected system. This could easily be done from Ubuntu installed in a separate partition and using file system that is not accessible from Windows or Windows viruses.
Therefore I strongly recommend a dual boot setup for running Ubuntu alongside a possibly infected or badly protected Windows.
When you install Ubuntu via Wubi (Windows UBuntu Installer), nothing will get into Ubuntu because Wubi uses a virtual hard drive. That means Ubuntu is installed into a very large file so there is no way for the virus to get into the file. Unless you use a pen drive.
When you do a full Ubuntu install, Ubuntu is installed on a real partition (obviously!), so there is chance for the Windows Virus to get into Ubuntu. However, since Ubuntu is immune to viruses, the virus won't infect your Ubuntu install even if it manages to get into it.
But if you are still worried that the virus is infecting your Ubuntu install (technically impossible, but very rare), you can install the ClamTK virus scanner.
How to do dyaual boot:
- backup existing linux( /home/<username> not forgetting dot files ) and any Windows files
- nuke( re-partition the whole disk(s) )
- install Windows( it creates a bunch of partitions, this can be avoided by pre-partitioning the whole disk to a single NTFS partitionstrong text )
- Via a live Ubuntu USB, use
gparted
to shrink the partition and create a linux partition structure, then check Windows still works - Install Ubuntu
update-grub
to detect Windows's bootloader
Is it dangerous: If you don't log into your OS, the only evils that can harm you are ones outside it. To mind come rootkits. Nothing is ever perfectly secure.